Lee and Big Oil

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I wonder when our brilliant Sen. Mike Lee was last in North Dakota. He recently told the Utah Eagle Forum that if the oil and natural gas deposits on Utah's public lands could be exploited more fully, that Utah could become another North Dakota ("Eagle Forum has warnings on debt ceiling, abortion, preschool," Tribune, Jan. 13).

My son goes regularly to North Dakota. For months, he has been commenting on drilling-central Williston, N.D., and the horrible living conditions and environmental mess made by the oil companies. "Awful," "disgusting," and "toilet of the world" are his most frequent descriptive words. His and co-workers' motto is: Get there, get the job done, and get out.

This is not what I want for Utah. As a native of Duchesne County, I know the beauty of the Uinta Basin and I do not want to see it destroyed.

Oil and natural gas are coming out of that area already; there is no reason to "exploit it more fully." I doubt that becoming another environmental nightmare would make Duchesne County "the envy of the world."

Lee is simply chasing Big Oil money, not caring at all what happens to the beauty of our state.

Laura Middleton

Bountiful

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